


Knick-Knacks and Hockey Sticks

by Caramellody



Series: Cryptic Hunting For the Soul [2]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: can you beleive almost a year later im back with an au fic, i have. a bad scheduale, supernatural shenanigains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-27 07:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19785646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caramellody/pseuds/Caramellody
Summary: Max stands by the fact that all monsters are violent, David thinks otherwise





	1. 8:00 AM

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back at it again with another fic! I realized that instead of making this au a series, I could easily make it a collection of connected adventures, makes me a lot less stressed about it for sure.  
> -These stories are all connected, things and events that occur to certain characters are either references from the show itself or from a prior parts of this AU. thats not to say this story cant be enjoyed on its own, it will just make it easier if you read the prior chapters.-
> 
> Canon divergence takes place around the time david either meets jasper in show or finds out about what happened, but before then things that happen that dont directly affect all characters is all fair game

“Is...Is he okay?”

“Oh he’ll be fine.”

“Guys shut up. Go back to your tents kids.”

“Um...but Gwen, it’s already eight in the morning, and breakfast starts in an hour.”

“Oh  _ god _ , don't remind me...I’m about to collapse here.”

David slowly opened his eyes to 4 pairs of eyes, all looking intently at him. He inspected the area around him, realizing he wasn’t back at spooky island but instead on the bed of his own cabin. David slowly got up, suddenly realizing the pain coursed through his body,

“G...Gwen?” He said, his eyes struggling to remain open.

“Yeah?”

“What happened?”

Gwen didn’t respond, she just moved quickly to help David get up to the side of his bed. Once David was sitting up, he looked at the three kids, standing beside him.

“Nikki? Neil? ...Max?”

Nikki and Neil both nodded at the sound of their names. Max, on the other hand, didn’t seem to pay any mind at the slight hesitation of his voice. “Right, he thinks I knocked him out?” Max said, clearly ignoring David and looking straight at Gwen. “Just tell him the truth already, i’m not going to give the whole spheal a second time just cause sleeping beauty here was knocked out cold.”

Gwen gave a silent glare, “Fine, only as long as you go to the mess hall for breakfast.”

Max grumbled some words under his breath, “Fine…” he began to walk away. Neil turned to look at Max before looking back at Gwen, “Am I to assume this also applies to-”

“Yeah.”

Neil shrugged, “Fair enough.” Neil waved to Nikki, “Lets go Nikki, I think we’ve got a lot to sort through today.”

Nikki nodded, “Yeah, like how you're so calm after all this.”

Neil was still walking but it was clear he had made a face before turning to look at her, “What are you talking about?” The door closed behind the three as their voices began to fade away the father they got.

Gwen sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, “Look, David. Theres...a lot to unpack here alright. I just need you to sight tight, I’ll tell you everything I can tell you.”

David raised his hand.

Gwen glared at him, “no questions until the end of my talk, David.”

David slowly lowered his hand. Gwen began to pace around a bit.

“The Max we followed...wasn’t the real Max. It was, in the nicest of terms, a monster.”

* * *

_ "I could definitely tell it wasn't human from the fact I literally shone a light to it and it melted” _

_ Max paced around the small area of the boat, carefully walking around as to not bump anyone into the water, “It’s a long story and I don't want to dig too deep into it, but…” he sighed, almost hesitant about telling them, “My...family’s a group of monster hunters, some really good ones to boot.” Max said, very quickly sounding almost proud of it. “And well, I’ve always known all my life that monsters exist. If anything, they are a part of my life ever since I was little.” _

_ Max turned around to look at the others, Nikki’s eyes were almost like they were glowing at Max’s story, while Gwen and Neil were both looking intently at Max, intrigued by his testimony. Gwen shook her head slightly, “I know you said no questions earlier, but I need to know. Do...monsters exist everywhere?” _

_ Max shrugged, “I guess? Many aren't so bad once you get to know them. It’s not like they're always out there ready to kill. There’s just some who are just outright evil like that back blob we met back there.” Max looked up, the camp, starting to get closer every second. _

_ “No one really knows where they come from exactly. Some say it's an alternate world, others say they live underground. But it’s pretty certain that there’ some place they all come from because it always seems like once in a while a few of them seem to come just for the hell of it. Of course, there’s many non violent ones, and there's also some that...are.” _

_ “Aw that sound so cool! I want to go where all these monsters are!” _

_ Max stayed silent before shaking his head, “I doubt that. Heard they’re violent as hell. You saw the one that attacked us.” _

_ Gwen continued to row as she looked at the side of the boat, making sure everything was going smoothly, “Speaking of that, what the hell was that monster that looked like you exactly?” _

_ “A Shapeshifter, a pile of goop that turns solid when it takes someone's identity, they take any physical attributes and look just like the person it's trying to imitate.” _

_ Neil’s shoulders dropped, “So...there’s no way to figure out who’s who?” _

_ Max turned around swiftly, an impressive feat considering their constrained space, “No, there is a way. Names, memories, personality. It takes the physical but it lacks any personality. Its personality is formed by what they've managed to gather from the original. Like Gwen, you saw the fake right?” Max looked back at the counselor who nodded back in return, “Now, think back. Did it ever once call you or David by name before we came?” _

_ Gwen thought hard, she looked up, eyes wide, “No...it didn't…” _

_ “Bingo.” Max smirked, as sat down on the boat for the first time in the ride. All Gwen could do was look in awe. Max was always clever, manipulative, and far from an idiot. Yet this was the first time she could admit that Max was on another level. Monsters? Monster hunters? The fact that they exist? _

* * *

“And, thats all Max explained to me, we were duped by a fucking monster. And monsters exist.”

David rubbed his head, the pain still pulsing throughout his whole body, “So...the Max we found wasn't really Max?”

Gwen nodded, David sighed.

"And monsters are...real?"

"Seems so."

"...What the heck?"

Gwen snapped her neck side to side before going to sit on her side of the room, "If you want to hear it from them, you know where they are. As for me, I am going to be out for the rest of the morning if that's alright with you." Gwen yawned, "I’ve been up all night having to those twerps and you."

David looked down "...Sorry." 

"Don't apologize idiot and get a move on."

David slowly began to get out of bed, Gwen rushing back to the counselor, aiding him as he got up. Once he rose, he slowly made his way out. All Gwen was able to do was stare as the door slammed shut. Gwen turned to look at David’s side of the bed, looking at the memories bulletin board he had hung up. There were multiple picture of the present. However, there was one picture that seemed almost out of place, it was older and yellow-stained. Looking at it closer she noticed a few familiar faces. She noticed a younger cameron campbell and a younger David in his camper uniform. She also noticed one kid that seemed too familiar before quickly realizing who it was.

* * *

_ “Alright then, tell me about that kid we met back there. What’s his deal?” _

_ Nikki jumped up, “Oh, you mean Jasper? Oh yeah, he’s cool.” _

_ “Okay?” Gwen said raising an eyebrow, “But why didn't we bring him with us?” _

_ Max shrugged, “The kids cursed to stay on that place for the rest of time, his body’s cured after he died.” _

_ “Right, you mentioned he was a ghost. How did that kid die anyway?” _

_ Nikki jumped up, “Blown up. Said that he was trying to find evidence of Campbell’s laundering scheme and during a visit to the camp he attempted to look for it but accidentally did some bad choices and KA-BOOM!” she waved her arms in the air, shaking the boat vigorously. Neil grabs her by the waist and sits her back down. _

_ “Nikki!” He exclaimed, “Calm down you’re gonna throw us off if you keep shaking the boat like this!” _

_ Nikki chuckled, "Yeah, oops." _

_ Gwen was still looking at Max as she rowed to the edge of shore, "I still don't get it. He’s a ghost, a ghost of a kid from David’s time at camp. a ghost from David’s time at camp who is also his friend and he died. In camp grounds." _

_ Max nodded, "Yeah, that's it. It ain’t that hard" _

_ Gwen rolled her eyes, "If David’s friend died in this place, then why the  _ **_fuck_ ** _ is he still working here? revenge quota? Guilt? Hatred? I know I wouldn't work here if I knew my friend was killed in the same grounds."  _

_ The three stayed silent. _

_ "Kids…?" _

_ Max lowered his head, "Gwen, it’s David. The guy’s a Campbell kissass.” _

_ Gwen remained silent, but the cogs in her brain began to very quickly put the pieces together _

_ "He doesn’t know does he?” _

_ Neil nodded, “All he knows was that the last thing he did to Jasper was betrayed their friendship by choosing the camp over him.” _

_ Gwen simply stayed silent the whole time, David's unconscious body laying on the boat, his head, laying in her lap. after a moment of silence she sighed. _

_ "No wonder the guy was hesitating to go to Spooky island to begin with." _

* * *

David entered the mess hall and quickly managed to identify the trio of kids in the corner of the room, eating their oatmeal. as he neared them, his footsteps managed to catch their attention.

"What do you want to know that Gwen hasn't told you already?"

David was taken aback, Max turned to look at the counselor, his eyes rolling as he faced to eat his breakfast once more.

"You alright?"

"What?"

"You heard me." Max said looking back at the counselor, his eyes quickly looking back to the ground. "You took a nasty hit back then, hit your head really hard."

"Oh, uh." David rubbed the back of his head, "I’m fine, thank you for asking."

"Whatever, just know that if you want to talk about what happened I suggest waiting till later tonight." he eyed the rest of the campers. Nurf was flinging wads of oatmeal to the wall, Nerris and Dolph preparing papers of character sheets with one another, Preston was diligently writing on a piece of paper and Space Kid was just being Space Kid while Harrison spent time doing basic parlor tricks to Ered.

"Besides you have a job to do right?" Max smirked, David sighed, he wanted to ask him personally but if had to wait then he had to wait.

"Very well then!" David said, his upbeat optimism slowly coming back up like a charged phone, "But not too late of course! you kids need to be in bed!"

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”


	2. 8:00PM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the hunt begins, the group starts to grow uneasy.

Night came, as Gwen sent to campers to their tents, David personally taking Max, Nikki and Neil aside to the counselor's cabin. the moment the door shut Nikki jumped up and down her face barely trying to be subtle.

"Woo Hooo!! Are we going monster hunting?! Are we monster hunters now!?"

Without so much as a glare, Max held his arms up and got ahold of the girl before looking back at her, "First of all, calm down, it’s like eight and people are still probably awake. second, maybe who knows depends on camp man over there."

David looked back at the campers, "Kids...you know it's dangerous outside."

"Dangerous, dangerous," Max said repeating in frustration as he paced around Gwen’s side of the room. "Where did she put it...where’s the fucking book..." Opening one of the drawers, Max took note of an old brown book. Papers were slightly sticking out and the spine looked like it had seen better days. Picking up the book he looked at the front cover, It was faded but there was still some visibility of a rough sketch of a silver gun and a wooden cross. For a moment, Max's face winced at the book, memories of his family killing monsters in front of his face, memories of being covered in blood, memories of his family almost d-

"What the  _ fuck  _ are you doing in my drawer?" a voice stormed in and for that moment, Max snapped out of his trance. he kicked Gwen’s drawer shut and paced the book to his side. 

"Nothing much, just getting the thing that belongs to me." He said laying the book on the ground and kicking it to everyone else's direction. 

David picked up the book and began flipping through the pages, glancing through various monsters, shapeshifters, ghosts, bug-like creatures, werewolves. there was also brief mentions of magic, both in a nature scene and an extraplanar sense. it seemed unreal, all of it, it was like a fictional book, but Gwen and much less Max wouldn't be one to lie about this. Heck, if Gwen was able to be with a literal fish man at one point, then it has to be true...right?

"Where did you get this Max?"

Max's head sunk into his sweater, "Snuck it away from my parents before they..." he paused, "...left me here."

The silence persisted for a few seconds before David made his way to the ten-year-old and passed the book to him. "Here, you might have more use for it than I do," he said Max looked at him before snatching the book away. he flipped through the pages to one David had seen before: it was of a massive bug creature

"I saw one in the forest today." he said, “And if there's one, there's gotta be more.”

"So what do you want us to even fucking do?" Neil said, waving his arms up and down, "Cause if your plan is to have us 5 all go to kill it, then you're goddamn INSANE Max."

"Oh come on.” Max waved his hand at Neil, “My parents were human and we all went killing monsters be-"

"THAT’S BECAUSE THEY WERE FUCKING ADULTS. AND TRAINED." Neil exclaimed. David waved his hand up and down, Neil sighed as he continued, in a more normal voice now. "And what do we have? we have Nikki, who could probably fight a medium-sized animal, me who can’t beat anything to save their life, and then we have Gwen and David. Which, you know? _ It’s Gwen and David for christ's sake _ !"

Gwen rolled her eyes as she sat down on her bed, "While I'm not a fan of how Neil puts it, he has a point. we have no fucking clue how to hunt monsters, my hand still fucking hurts from last night, and I am too fucking tired to deal with this at 8:30 PM." She rubbed the bridge of her nose, groaning as she laid in bed.

Max raised a brow, "Then what about camp then?"

"What about it?"

"I mean, I saw the thing in the forest near camp Campbell. at least the shapeshifter was grounded on Spooky island, but this one isn't, if we leave that thing unattended who knows?” Max said, in a clearly sarcastically innocent tone of voice, “It might come for the campers."

At that, David’s eyes widened. He looked at Max, "Then...we have to do something about that of course."

"Of course David, of course, we can go fight the bad bug things inside the forest." Max's body leaned over to Gwen's bed and gave her a smirk. to which Gwen replied with a massive groan as she sat back up.

"Alright, alright I get it! You want us all to go sure whatever."

Nikki jumped up and down "Alright monster hunt!!!" 

Gwen rolled her eyes as she held Nikki’s head with her hand, preventing her from jumping any further. Neil rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, that's 4-1 so fuck it I guess."

* * *

Gwen was honestly surprised David would let the kids do something this dangerous so late at night, and when she brought it up to the counselor, even he admitted it was a little out of his boundaries

"I do agree with that." he said looking at Gwen, "But, if we had said no, they probably would've snuck behind our backs anyway. This would technically be safer, at least we'll have our eyes peeled on then in case anything happens.

Gwen groaned as she picks up the pace, "Well you're doing a piss poor job dude they're running ahead." she said, holding a hockey stick she found in the storage area. David yelped as he caught up to them and stood in front of them, lecturing how one should be going too far and splitting the group. 

Max opened the book and turned to a page. scanning and reading through "This is our guy." dropping the book to the ground and putting the flashlight over it. the other four leaned over to look at Max.

* * *

_ "Mothman?" Nikki said "ooooo neat! it'll be like the search I had for the sasquatch!" _

_ Max rolled his eyes, "we have no idea what this thing could do, whether it can hurt us or if it can even understand us, but whenever my parents did these hunts they would always plan these things before they actually acted on it." Max then went to David’s desk, pulled out a sheet of paper, a pen and wrote "Plan to hunt Mothman" on top, "we need to know what we can if we even stand a chance to it." _

_ "We?" Gwen said, looking back at Max, "Max, you really think we're going to let you fight the front line?" _

_ "Uh, yeah?" _

_ Gwen crossed her arms Max groaned, _

_ "Look! I know WAY more about this shit that you have, there is NO way you and David are going to make it out alive without me and you know it!" _

_ "It's less about whether you know or not and more about your safety, Max what if something happens to you?" Gwen said, tilting her head slightly. _

_ "As if you'd care." _

_ "I'd care..." David said looking down on the ten-year-old. _

_ "Sure, whatever. Shoot me some ideas." _

_ Nikki hopped up and down, "ooh ohh! how about we whack it! We’ve got hockey sticks over at the storage closet! and then we can shoot it with firecrackers!" _

_ Max tapped his chin with the pen, "Firecrackers would cause too much attention, remember Nikki, we're still pretty close to camp and for as much as Campbell or Quartermaster wouldn't give two shits about it, the other campers will. Now the hockey sticks idea however, I like." He turned back to write on the paper. _

_ Neil raised his hand, "How about making a net or something? Have it cornered and just have it be trapped." _

_ "Nets and traps were always a go-to from my parents." Max's eyes looked at Neil before his eyes darted down to the ground, "All the monsters they caught were always put in cages and killed from the inside." Max paused for a second, silence ensued before turning back to the paper and writing it down. _

_ "That’s it? That's our plan? Ambush it and catch it with a net?"  _

_ Gwen got up from her bed, "You're the expert kid. If you know how to do this, what would be your plan?" _

_ Max looked at his paper, "Well, these are solid, but if we don't want it to come back we just have to beat the shit out of it." _

_ David's face went pale, "You mean...like killing it?" _

_ "Uh...yeah?" _

_ "But Max isn't that...wrong?" _

_ Max looked back at David, "wrong? wrong?! David they're fucking monsters. even the non-violent ones will succumb to their instincts eventually." Max's eyes glared at the counselor with rage, "my parents taught me that all monsters must be killed, no matter what." he then turned around and started to walk out the door. _

_ "No matter what..." Max repeated in a slightly lower tone to himself. _

* * *

Max looked back at the group, holding up the sheet with notes he wrote earlier, "Everyone knows the plan right?"

Nikki smiled, "We ambush the guy and then we scare the guy."

Max sighed, "And then we kill the guy."

David looked at Max with a concerned look on his face, "Max, the plan is to not cause any harm if it doesn't harm us. If we need to tell Mr. Mothman that they are bothering us, then we will."

"David, dont be a fucking idiot, thats what got you knocked out by that shapeshifter."

David’s shoulders slumped, "I’m just saying that we shouldnt incite harm if it doesn't harm us first."

"And im saying that if we show one sign of weakness its going to take advantage of us!"

"Max we can't just go and attack like that, it's dangerous and unfair."

"Jesus christ David your treating these things like they're some kind of wild animal! let me clear this up for you if you don't understand: they are monsters. they will not hesitate to attack and will do  _ ANYTHING  _ to kill." Max said, slowly taking steps closer and closer to the camp counselor

Gwen coughed. the two quickly turned to look at the other three, who had already set up a working trap, she rolled her eyes.

"How about instead of fighting about what step three is gonna be, how about helping us with step two since you guys did jack shit in step one?"

David and Max looked at each other, David looked back at Gwen "Sure can!" he chirped as he walked to her and helped her scan the trap. Max groaned as he rummaged in his sweater and pulled out a pocket knife, looked at it and looked at the contorted reflection of himself before quickly pulling it back in his sweater pocket and making his way to the others.

After the trap was set, Nikki placed some cheese and peanut butter crackers she had saved from the mess hall that day as well as a broken tree branch. and from then it was only a matter to wait.

Nikki and Neil were the first to quickly succumb to sleep, Nikki sleeping comfortably on the ground whereas Neil leaned on a nearby rock. Gwen was barely managing as she turned to look to David.

"Is...this really going to work?" she yawned. David shrugged.

"Of course its gonna work." Max said, he raised his head slightly pointing "In fact." I think it might be there right now. David and Gwen turned around to look at a sudden shadowy figure emerging from a cave. It’s glowing red eyes slightly peering from the darkness behind it. Gwen raised her hockey stick as she glanced over at David, who was holding the rope connecting the trap tightly. Whenever David were to let go of the rope, it would drop the net on the creature. 

The red eyes looked into the direction if Nikkis cheese and crackers as it slowly got closer and closer. Gwen glared at David who instinctively let go of the rope, causing the net to fall down right on top of the shadowy figure. The noise it made was one of fear s it struggled to wiggle out of the net clearly inhuman. Gwen and Max jumped up and rushed to the creature as David stayed behind, slowly waking the two other sleeping campers.

Gwen pointed her hockey stick to the creature, "Alright little shit, who or WHAT the fuck are you?"

The creatures red eyes looked straight at Gwen, who slightly lost grip of the stick. Max however looked unfazed as he pulled out the knife and made his way towards the moth creature.

"Alright fucker, your lucky you haven't fought back but you shouldn't even be here." he said, the knife laying on his side. Gwen dropped her hockey stick before grabbing Max by the wrist.

"Why the HELL do you have this Max, where did you get it and why are you pulling it out NOW?!" Gwens face was almost uncharacteristically agitated, even more so than the one time they ambushed her date with a fish monster, if anything it was genuine fear dawning on her face. Max winced slightly at the sudden restraint in his wrist.

"Parents...monster hunters....put the pieces together." he said, placing his free arm on Gwen’s arm and trying to free himself but there was no change. she held on tight.

David, Nikki, and Neil made their way quickly to the two, he struggled a bit with Max's grip, but David managed to separate the knife from Max before putting it in his back pocket. he then made his way to the net and quickly freed the moth monster from its trap. David jumped up to examine the creature more closely, there was fur all over its body except for two spindly thin legs, the wings were about as long as its body and it had two antenna sticking out directed at Davids direction as it looked with its beady red eyes. David also noticed that its mouth was red.

"Oh, hello there friend!"

"We are fucking NOT friends."

David waved off Maxs sudden outburst, "We truly apologize for any inconvenience but i wanted to know what you might be doing in these places,” David paused, eyeing side to side, “You see...beings like you really aren't too common in the area and we just wanted to know if you were per say, lost or just visiting." David smiled.

The creature turned its head behind and vlanced to a nearby tree. David shone a flashlight near it before noticing the split halves of a deer laying in the ground, blood spilling everywhere to the nearest tree. He looked back at the creature whose blood was still on its mouth.

"O-Oh, I see, you were just having dinner of course!" David said, stuttering like a madman he eyed Gwen who had finally let go of Max. Nikki hopped around the creature.

"ooooh! Mothman! So you are real!?" She rubbed the creatures back, to which it made a chirping sound, David wasn't sure if it was the sound of annoyance or enjoyment but it wasn't attacking anyone so he assumed it was just being kind.

Nikki looked back and Neil and Max, "it's like a cat! who's a good moth monster?"

"Nikki it's not a cat." Neil said, his eyes still trying to comprehend if all of this was even real or not. "Hell, it's not any animal by any matter."

Gwen sighed, picking up the hockey stick, "Okay, so this is the thing you were so afraid of?" she eyes Max, who only rolled his eyes in response.

"Well it's killing animals."

"Max that’s called the food cycle, monster or not creatures have to fucking ea-HEY?!"

Almost suddenly, the moth creature had lunged forward and grabbed the hockey stick, its mouth landing dangerously close to Gwens hand and snatching the piece of wood from her. the mothman began to then run at an alarmingly fast speed to what the group noticed was a cave. Max smirked as he looked back at David and Gwen

"I fucking told you so." He said before running after it. 

David’s eyes grew wide as he started to chase after the boy, "Max! Get back here! You won’t prove anything like this!" he yelled. Gwen groaned as she hurdled Nikki and Neil together.

"This is the second time we've done this and im already sick and tired of it." Nikki hopped up and down only for Gwen to hold her on top of her head in order to prevent her from jumping once more.

Max kept on running, he noticed David catching up but he wasn't fazed at all. He wouldn't catch up, it was just fact. Before long, Max made it to the entrance of a cavern, it was almost like a void inside. Max stopped as he looked back at David.

"Well, I told you before and I’ll tell you again, all monsters are the same." Max smiles, as he faced the cave "Who knows what's in there, maybe dead animal bodies the sicko keeps inside, maybe  _ actual human bodies _ , who knows?"

David took deep breaths, trying to regain himself as he looked up into the caves darkness, but he stayed silent the whole time. Max began to take a few steps inside before turning back to look at the camp counselor.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" he said. David got back up and walked forward, flashlight in hand to illuminate the dark room.

Max's mouth dropped when he noticed the significant size of objects, no bodies, no blood, no severed limbs or guts spilled throughout the room, only a bunch of knick knacks and lost items: broken clocks, missing shoes, even supplies from camp grounds. Hell, Max even saw the stone that had _ fuck the police _ painted in it that landed all the way in Spooky Island. which brings in a lot of implications Max wasn’t ready to think about at midnight. 

And turning to the right, Max saw the Mothman, hopping near a wall and placing the hockey stick he snatched from Gwen near a wall. it turned around and looked back at Max and David, it lifted one of its wings and showed the two its collection.

David’s eyes glowed, "Are these...your things?"

The creature chirped. David smiles

"Aww gee you have a very nice collection Mr. Mothman" he rummaged around his pocket to pull out a three playing cards, the nine of spades, the Ace of hearts and the Jack of spades, probably coming from Harrison’s card deck. He looked at them before handing the creature the ace of hearts, keeping both of the spades with him. The creature willingly took the card and placed it on a pile of multiple different playing cards of different shapes. Colors and sizes. It hooped right back to the two and bowed, in an almost clumsy way, almost tripping in on itself before looking back up.

Max was left speechless as David waved and the two left the cave, the creature wasn't killing for sport, it was killing to survive, the monster wasn't bad, it was just a hermit who lived in a cave and owned a bunch of spare objects. As the two walked back, they met up with Nikki, Neil and Gwen who all looked at the two with astonishment.

"Honestly, I thought the two of you were dead."

David smiled, "Nothing to worry about! It just likes collecting!" he then turned to the other three campers, "Now kids, I think we can call that a night! I think it's high time we all went to sleep."

"Fine by me!" Nikki said

"Thank goodness." Neil renarked, looking at Max, "Hey Max, what  _ did  _ you guys see in there."

Max stayed silent, and he stayed silent the entire walk back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's another one done! I actually have like....three? other short fics that are either done or in progress, who's to say when I might finish them. Regardless I hope you all enjoyed  
> (also as a sort of lore thing, I guess the cannon divergence, at least for now is before s4e6, considering what's happened lol)

**Author's Note:**

> excuse any spelling errors, i've done the best I could and since i'm basically uploading this through my phone in the middle of a power outage its a little tricky to. But! I should have chapter 2 done by the end of this weekend


End file.
